Responsibility
by colorfulquirkcutieanimefan
Summary: The married couple Ed and Winry pass away, and Al is left to take care of their very depressed child, who is being hunted down by the same man who killed his parents.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! This is my new story and its a little different than the anime storyline. In this story, Ed didn't go to the other side of the gate. Ed and Al restored their bodies on their side of the gate, somehow (don't ask me how, thats not important). Also, in this story, Ed's son is named Alphonse, so to avoid confusion, I usually don't call the child be his name. You'll see that mostly, he is called 'that child' or 'Alphonse Junior'. Anyways, enjoy! Review and tell me how you like it. The next chapter will be out soon! And I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

* * *

Alphonse placed his hand on the gravestone to steady himself as he fell to his knees. How could this have happened? His brother was the strongest, most brave person he had ever known; how could he be dead? Edward could face hell, he could take down any one of his enemies, and he could laugh in the face of death because he knew he could never be taken down by anything, except old age. How wrong he was. Was he laughing as he was burned to death in the house fire because he had somehow believed he would survive?

Al sobbed, as he recalled vague memories of the experiences two of them shared. _The first time their mother had praised them for doing alchemy. The confidence they both had when Ed convinced Al and also himself that they could somehow bring her back to life. The night when they had attempted the human transmutation. All they had gone through to get their bodies back. The moment when they finally got their bodies restored._

"Brother", Al whispered, caressing the gravestone. "Why did you leave? You were very aware of everything you would leave behind when you died. You hate making people worry about you and cry over you, so WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE US ALL?" He was yelling at this point, and then he, once again, began to cry uncontrollably.

He suddenly stood up, regained his composure, and wiped his tears, as he realized he had a new responsibility. The fire that had destroyed Ed's house had not only killed him, but it also had killed his lovely wife, Winry. Their only child had escaped the fire with many burns, but the child had not escaped the inevitable trauma that came along with watching his father, mother and everything good and familiar to him, burn to a crisp. That child was his responsibility now. Ed had specifically written in his will that if he died while his child was still underage, Al would take full custody of the child.

Ed and Winry had named their child after Alphonse, for obvious enough reasons. This child was only 9 years old, and he was already an orphan. He only hoped the child wasn't getting any ideas about human transmutation. Alphonse Junior inherited Ed's colourful personality, along with his devotion to alchemy, his intelligence, and his dislike for milk. He looked exactly like Al when he was 9 (which means he didn't inherit Ed's lack of height!), except he inherited his mother's deep blue eyes. At this very moment, Al Jr. was in the custody of the military police, and after all the papers and documents are signed, tomorrow morning, Al would become the official guardian of his deceased brother's child.

Currently, the child was at the hospital, and would remain there for some time, even after the papers were signed. Al had to be strong for the child's sake. He couldn't cry in front of the child, for the child was already going through enough pain. Al sighed, and left the cemetery, where Roy Mustang had a car there waiting for him.

Al got into the vehicle's back seat, and sat down beside Mustang. Roy had his head in his hands, but was completely silent, and ignored the fact that Al was in the car next to him. Al slammed the car door shut, and Roy looked up at him. He noticed Al's eyes were red and puffy so he said in a hoarse voice, "Even though it's been almost two weeks since the incident, I can still hear that child screaming in my head. I can still remember how he looked, and how his father looked, so burned up that you could barely recognize him. His wife wasn't burned as badly so you could still see her physical features, and she looked so gruesome with half of her skin remaining on her body. Alphonse... it reminded me so much of Ishbal..." Roy was the first to arrive at the scene, and was also the first to see the corpses and the traumatized child.

Al looked down, and willed himself not to break down again. He thought he had down his share of crying at the grave, moments ago, but the urge to sob again came to him rapidly. He quickly looked out the window, so that if a few tears happened to escape, Roy wouldn't witness them.

"The child is seeing a psychologist", Roy spoke again. "The look of utter horror and terror are still clearly written upon his face, and he was badly burned. His leg is broken, and we're still investigating, but we think it's because Edward got him out of the burning house by helping him jump out of the second story window, therefore saving his life. That means Edward gave up his life for his child, so that means that he died as a hero. From the looks of it, he and his son were both in the room when the fire started, and it spread so fast that there was only time for one of them to escape, and Ed made sure it was his child who got to safety first. Maybe there was time for him to try to save his wife, and that's what killed him-his own recklessness. We might never know, but either way, Fullmetal died as a hero and you should be proud."

Al turned to face Roy, not caring any longer whether Roy saw him cry or not. "That is no surprise to me. My brother has always been a hero, so it's not surprising that he died one", he snapped. "And, I was always proud of my brother. You're in no position to tell me who I should and shouldn't be proud of." Roy had noticed how much Al had changed since his brother's death. Of course he was still grieving, but he was no longer his sweet, kind, gentle self. Roy began to worry for Al's health when Al had began to refuse to eat, shower, or even get up in the morning. He had no desire to take care of himself any longer. Even though Ed's death had been hard on everyone, it was especially hard on Alphonse.

"You become the guardian of a child tomorrow, Al, and not just any child. Your brother's child. I hope you won't be in a snappy mood towards him, and I also hope you'll be able to take care of him, which, I believe, is highly unlikely since you don't even take care of yourself", Mustang told him.

"You know what your problem is, _Roy_? It's that you're too egotistical that you don't realize how everyone else feels. All you do is talk about the horrors _you_ seen at the scene. What about me? That was my older brother who died there, dammit! Just because you don't care that Ed died doesn't mean that I don't care. You don't stop to think about anyone else's feelings. You don't know why I stopped taking care of myself. You wouldn't know anything about it. I did it because I don't see a reason to keep living. Ed's gone now, so what do I do with my life?" Al yelled at him. Roy looked away, but Al yelled louder, "Answer me Roy!"

The driver was starting to look annoyed, so Roy decided to shut Al up with this, "Ed's child should be enough to keep you living on. He needs you. Also, I do care that Edward died. I'm just not as weak as you, so I'm able to hold in my feelings." He was not in the mood for childish quibbles like this. In fact, he was in such a bad mood that he did not even care that he had insulted Alphonse, at that moment anyway.

Unfortunately for Roy, Al didn't shut up. "There you go again with your insulting quotes that lift your spirits and lower everyone else's. If you're so strong then why don't you take in Ed's child as your own? I seen you crying at the funeral, so, face it. If I'm weak because I cry, that makes you just as weak as me." With that, Al turned to look out the window once more.

"Al..." Roy started, and was surprised to find that Al didn't stop or interrupt him. Ed would've, so it goes to show that he wasn't totally like his brother after all. "I'm sorry that you must go through such a tremendous loss. Truly, I am. I give my deepest sympathies. I, too, am upset about this, but I could never be as upset about it as you. He was your only brother. And Winry, she was a good friend of yours also. I don't know what came over me to insult you in such a way.

Al looked up at him, with tears in his eyes. "Roy, I can't handle this! The pain is too much!" he cried. "Why did brother have to die?" He sobbed into Roy's shoulder like a child, which he still was, at heart, even though he was 29 years old.

Roy patted his back and said, "Shape up, Al. Think of what that child is going through. You become a parent-like figure to him tomorrow. He'll be looking at you to show him how to act. You'll set the bar for him. If you cry, he'll cry harder. If you be strong and hold in your feelings, it might make him feel even the tiniest bit better." Al nodded, and began to prepare himself for his new responsibility of parenthood.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2! I hope you guys like it and I promise I'll get chapter 3 up faster than I got this one up. Please review, and I'm sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, or confusing parts. For any comments, complaints, or advice on how to make this story better, leave a review, or PM me. Enjoy!

* * *

The next day, Alphonse went with Roy to sign all the legal documents, and once they were finished there, they were both escorted to the hospital, where the child was.

They were taken to the child's hospital room. He was sleeping when they entered, so Al kneeled by the bed, and Roy took a seat on the sofa they had in the room. He still had some pretty bad burns on his arms, but, by the looks of it, his face had not been touched by the flames. It was very surprising to Al how much the child resembled him.

They watched the child sleep, tossing and turning and crying out as he was plagued by the nightmares that had accompanied his fever. Both Al and Roy were silent, reflecting on how alike to Ed he was. Ed always had gruesome nightmares that caused him to cry as he slept, and when he would finally wake up, it would be in a pool of sweat.

When the child finally awoke, a around an hour later, he was barely alert or responsive. He just seemed to glance around the room, either he didn't realize that there were two other people in the room with him, or he just chose to ignore them.

Roy whispered to Al, "I'll go and tell the doctor that he's awake, so that he can receive his medicine." Al nodded, and Roy left the room, leaving the two of them alone.

The noise the Roy had made when he closed the door behind him startled the young boy, and he opened his eyes wide in fear. Alphonse squeezed his hand, and stroked his hair. The boy weakly stared up at him. He wasn't scared anymore when he looked up and recognized Al.

Alphonse had helped Winry and Edward raise Alphonse Junior since he was born, so Alphonse Junior knew who he was. He remembered how, before the house fire, Alphonse Junior's eyes would light up, whenever he came to visit. Alphonse had been there when Alphonse Junior had been born, when he had taken his first step, and when he said his first word.

"Are my mom and dad... dead?" the child asked, looking down. Al had been informed that the child had not said a thing since the fire, so this would be the first words he said in two weeks. He couldn't make it to his parents' funerals because he was still in the hospital, in critical condition, when they were buried.

"No one told you?" Al asked, and then sighed and said, "Yeah, they are. I'm really sorry, but they didn't make it out of that fire." He felt tears spring to his eyes, but he didn't dare let any escape.

Al Junior nodded and whispered, "I was told but I didn't believe anyone. I wanted to make sure it was true by asking someone who would tell me the truth. Everyone keeps asking me questions about what happened, but I don't want to explain... not yet, anyway. I'm really sad, Uncle Al."

Alphonse sucked in his breath and replied, "We're all pretty sad."

"Where am I gonna live now, uncle? I don't have parents now, and I don't have a house", the poor child sobbed.

"You're going to come and live with me, at my house!" exclaimed Alphonse, trying to sound cheerful, when really he wasn't. It made him want to cry whenever he looked at Ed's pathetic son, who was nothing without his father, and it'd be hard to live in the same house with such a depressed child.

Al Junior didn't say anything, and just stared up at the roof. Just then, the door opened, and the doctor entered, followed by Roy. "Ho ho, he is awake!" exclaimed the doctor. "Okay, Alphonse, I'm going to give you some pain medication. You haven't had any since you were taken off the IV", the doctor told Al Junior. He injected a needle, which made the boy shriek in fear, just like his father, and Al Junior then exclaimed that he wanted to be alone.

The doctor, Roy and Al all left the room, leaving the boy utterly alone. The doctor left the two men, and went off to treat another patient. Al kept his gaze on the floor, as Roy walked with him down to the cafeteria.

When they arrived, Al muttered, "I'm not really hungry, Roy. I think I'm going to step outside for some fresh air, if you don't mind." Roy nodded, and continued into the cafeteria, knowing that Al wanted sometime to himself.

Al sluggishly made his way outside, and once there, he stared up at the cloudy sky. Snow lazily drifted to the ground, marking the end of autumn and the start of winter. One happened to land on Al's nose, and he blew it off. It reminded him of when Ed, Nina and he had played out in the snow many years ago. He remembered Ed doing the same thing he just did when he blew off the snowflake. Al, of course, was not able to feel any snowflakes land on him back then, but he could now, and he loved the feeling. He absentmindedly let a tear slide down his face, as he reminisced the days when he and his brother had only one goal in mind, and when they had dedicated their life to one thing-finding the Philosopher's Stone.

In those days, Al had a reason to live on. In those days, it was just him and Ed. That was before Ed got married, and gave all his attention to his wife. Although Al was happy for his brother, he couldn't help but feel jealous. When Ed had a child, that was even less attention that Al got from his older brother, and even more jealousy had pinned Al down.

Suddenly, a cold wind picked up and blew right through him, making him shiver. He headed back inside, and met up with Roy, who had just finished eating. "Why don't we go back up to Alphonse's room, and check on how he's doing?" Roy suggested. Al silently nodded, and they started up to Alphonse Junior's room.

Once they got there, they knocked on the door, and then entered. Upon entering, they discovered an empty bed, and a rope made of sheets draped out the window. Al gasped, and ran to the window, and looked out of it to see if he could see any trace of his nephew. Roy's reaction was smirk. This could only have been expected by the only son of the stubborn Fullmetal Alchemist. Ed's son was like a reincarnation of himself, and Roy was sure that part of Ed's soul was inside his son. Just like Ed, his son, Alphonse, would be keeping Al and Roy constantly on their feet and worried.

* * *

Alphonse Junior ran down the alley in his hospital gown, not caring where he was going, as long as he was away from everyone, and all his troubles. He didn't dare look back. Snowflakes were falling, and although he was cold, he wouldn't go back. His father had run from his troubles when he burned down his home, didn't he?

He stubbed his bare foot on a loose rock, and fell to the ground, skin his knees, but he ignored the pain and kept on running. In his mind he knew that when his house burned down, it was no accident. Someone started it on purpose, and he knew who it was. He was scared out of his mind, because the house fire was meant to kill _him_. Not his father or his mother, and they were the ones who ended up dying. He knew the person who was out to get him, and he knew that he had to run and get away from any places that he could easily be found, and any people who may get harmed if he stayed near them. That's the reason why he couldn't stay at his uncle's house. And that was why he had to stay far from his loved ones and any places where he knew his pursuer would likely look.

He was driven mad by the images in his head of his parent's bodies, burnt to a crisp in front of him, and the man who did it. A man with long, spiked hair like a palm tree. The same man who was out to kill his father, and his uncle when they were younger. _Help me dad, please don't let him kill me_, Al Junior screamed over and over again in his mind.

* * *

Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it. Please leave a review, and I'll update soon!


End file.
